Author: James Edward Mills

An open water channel crossing of the Hawaii Islands will always make for good cinema. And in that Destination 3 Degrees, a film by Chris Aguilar and Soul Surf Media Productions, does not disappoint. Though hardly a triumph of movie-making, the film pulls together the key components of a complex recipe that blends adventure and conservation goals to document an amazing athletic achievement.

Watch an idea transform into reality and you’ll never be the same again. When you see a community torn apart by war, famine and death come together and build a brighter future, it’s hard to not believe that anything is possible. After three weeks last fall traveling in Ethiopia I’ve come to understand exactly how individuals can make a difference to change the world.
The non-governmental organization Imagine1Day is making it possible for ordinary people to deliver creative contributions to improve the lives of millions living in poverty. Through the process of Creatribution a handful of do-gooders blend their artistic talents and passion for helping others to raise money and awareness for the building of schools throughout one of the poorest countries on the planet.

I spent more than a week trying to get Chris Keyes to return my calls. So when the senior editor at Outside Magazine reached out to shake my hand during the breakfast meeting of the Conservation Alliance I was naturally thrilled. It’s at these events during the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market when the distance between professional relationships shrinks and contact can be made face to face. But the depth and strength of any relationship should never be taken for granted. And as I discovered it’s usually best to truly connect with a person before you try to game an exchange of business cards into something more than the meeting of two people.

A caravan of five Land Cruisers bounces along a rocky path. Five hundred miles north of Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, the village of Atsemba is only accessible by a dirt road, and the nearest town is over an hour away. The passage is not so much a road as it is simply the clearest line of travel across a dusty landscape scattered with stones and scrub grass.

In this remote region of East Africa, donkeys are more common than cars. And the arrival of so many sport utility vehicles in this austere community of 3,200 draws an excitable crowd Laughing voices rise with the sound of beating drums. Ululations and cheers from the growing throng are jubilant, welcoming. People of the village and the surrounding community come running to meet honored guests-17 tired travelers. Their white skin and pristine sportswear are a stark contrast against the dark complexions and second-hand cotton clothing of the villagers.
But everyone shares broad smiles and eyes that shine bright with excitement. The visitors, from North America and Australia, are eager to see their vision of foreign aid brought to life in the shape of a four-room schoolhouse they helped to fund here. The people of Atsemba are just as anxious to show them. Children are quick to take the strangers’ hands as they enter the heart of the village. The new arrivals exchange greetings with village elders, some offering handshakes, others offering hugs. It’s a boisterous and happy parade of strangers, one of which-a tall, athletic blond woman-tries to go unnoticed.
She’s hard to miss, and, as she’d visited Atsemba before, a few of the villagers recognize her as the catalyst for the occasion. She smiles warmly, but Shannon Wilson tries not to draw anyone’s attention. It’s clear she doesn’t want today’s celebration to be about her. Even as she cuts a bright pink ribbon to dedicate the new building at the Atsemba Community Primary School she has very few words.
“We hope that your children will envision a brighter future for themselves.”

From Emancipation Day through the first decade of the 20th century, Gloryland spans the arch of freedom. In his premiere novel veteran National Park Service ranger Shelton Johnson chronicles the path of an African-American man born mere hours after the abolition of slavery at the end of the Civil War. Narrated by lead character Elijah Yancy the story unfolds in the years that follow to track his life’s course to become empowered by the liberty to be found in service to his country and communion with nature.
Fleeing the...